Living abroad tips and hints for money savers

lesandflynny

Thanks for the info on IB guys/gals.

Wish I was there now. is it cold 7.day.w.end.

Speak soon.

wearside_2

Thanks for the info Pbradley. I shall see what Suntrust say on Monday! As I have bought a car and it sits on my drive, there is nothing I can do, except enjoy it for the next few years when we are here or our family. BTW the weather is picking up over here, I am now back in my shorts!

seven-day-weekend

lesandflynny wrote:

Thanks for the info on IB guys/gals.

Wish I was there now. is it cold 7.day.w.end.

Speak soon.

It's quite cold today.

Mind you, we are at an altitude of over 1000metres.

We're in the clouds today.:beer:

lesandflynny

A little moneysaving tool..... Perhaps most of you know about it already but the link below is a free translation site. Type anything in Englsih and it will translate to several languages for you, so if you need to write to somebody in Spanish here's how to do it. Alternatively, if you get soemthing in Spanish or Italian and need to know what it says, again type it in here and it will translate. It's free, i have it in my favourites and use it quite regular. Occassionally there is a word on my bank account, or bills etc which I am unfamiliar with. I have found that the trnslation is not gramatically perfect but it is fine for basic needs. Spanish, Italian, French, German etc etc.

Hope it is of use to some......

https://www.freetranslation.com

seven-day-weekend

Yes, we use freetranslation if we have to do anything official. We write down what we want to say in English and get it translated, then print it out, so if our Spanish dries up, we have our 'notes' to refer to.

Some of the grammar is a bit peculaiar, but it's OK for everyday.

droopsnout

lesandflynny wrote:

Hope it is of use to some......

I'm sure it will be, but it is NO SUBSTITUTE for a proper translation.

Machine translation has improved, but it is far, far from perfect, because it cannot yet apply common sense.

The way to test how good a translation program is, is to have it translate once (say, from English to Spanish) and then have it translate that Spanish back into English again.

So here is Lesandflynny's post, translated by freetranslation.com into French.

Un petit outil de moneysaving. .... Peut-être la plupart d'entre vous savez de lui déjà mais le lien au dessous d'est un site de traduction libre. Taper n'importe quoi l'anglais et il traduira à plusieurs langues pour vous, donc si vous avez besoin de quelqu'un écrire dans espagnol a ici comment le faire. Comme alternative, si vous obtenez quelque chose dans espagnol ou Italien et le besoin de savoir qu'il dit, encore le taper ici et il traduira. C'est libre, je l'ai dans mes préférés et l'utilise tout à fait régulier. De temps en temps il y a un mot sur mon compte en banque, ou mes factures etc que je suis inconnu avec. J'ai trouvé que la traduction n'est pas grammaticalement parfaite mais c'est beau pour les besoins fondamentaux. L'espagnol, Italien, français, Allemand etc etc.

Espérer c'est d'usage à quelques-uns. .....

I can assure you - as a fluent speaker of French, more or less - that this is largely rubbish, BUT it is comprehensible, I think, to most native French people. (Possibly not the last sentence). In fairness, I corrected three or four typing errors in the original post before translating.

Now you can have a good idea of how well the program works by retranslating that text back into English:

A small tool of moneysaving. .... Maybe the most of you know of him already but the link to the under of is a translation site free. Type does not import what the English and it will translate to several languages for you, therefore if you need someone to write in Spaniard has here how to do it. As alternate, if you obtain something in Spaniard or Italian and the knowledge need that it says, again to type it here and it will translate. It is free, I have it in my favorite ones and the uses completely uniform. Of times in times there is a word on my account in bank, or my bills etc that I am unknown with. I found that the translation is not grammatically perfect but it is beautiful for the basic needs. The Spaniard, Italian, French, German etc etc.

Hope this is usage to someone. ....

I have previously offered on MSE to translate odd bits of French to English for anyone who needs a quick help-out, and this still stands. (Not long documents, though, please, as I do have a life! )

The message should be clear: by all means use these freebies to get the gist of the foreign language text, but don't rely on it to translate your English clearly, and above all, do not under any circumstances use machine translation in any legal context such as house-buying, as it simply isn't reliable enough in such circumstances.

HTH.

lesandflynny

Hi HTH,

I noted a few spelling mistakes after posting........drrr it is just typo'sos honest ha.

The translation to french and then back to english is very funny, and of course I would back up your point that online translation is not accurate. Possible not the best tool for legal or very improtant documents.

I will know not to apply for a job in Spanish using the free translation sight (ha)

Take Care
DMP

wearside_2

wearside wrote:

Thanks for the info Pbradley. I shall see what Suntrust say on Monday! As I have bought a car and it sits on my drive, there is nothing I can do, except enjoy it for the next few years when we are here or our family. BTW the weather is picking up over here, I am now back in my shorts!

P Bradley, I saw the Suntrust Customer Advisor and she said tat their credit card is run by MBNA and I needed to have a Social Security Number to get one. I explained that someone in a similar position to me had got one and repeated what you had said. She said that this could not happen as the card is not financed by Suntrust and is entirely seperate. She did however suggest I take out a 36 month CD and invest a few thousand dollars and then take out a 36 month loan financed from that account! I declined her offer so I am back to square one again!

Mrs_pbradley936

She is out of date! Until last month it was run by MBNA but I got mine years ago before MBNA took over. Now MBNA have been taken over by Bank of America so do not cover Suntrust cards a firm called FIA do. Did you go into a little local branch or a city branch such as Tampa? If you have no joy try another bank, just ask if they will do what you want first and if so move your account.

Mrs_pbradley936

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